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Author Topic: If you could only own one rifle/caliber  (Read 4010 times)

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Offline S.B.

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If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« on: January 23, 2009, 09:35:50 PM »
in Alaska and you didn't reload and only had contact with others every 6 months or so, what would it be?
Steve
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Offline buffermop

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #1 on: January 24, 2009, 01:24:24 AM »
12 GAUGE SHOTGUN.
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Offline williamlayton

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #2 on: January 24, 2009, 03:07:02 AM »
For me, under the conditions above, it would be something I could get too my head. Six months without human contact would drive me nuts.
Now, for most folks, 6 months without contact with me would be a blessing.  :D ::) :P :-* ;)
Blessings
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Offline hillbill

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2009, 03:17:01 AM »
i would take a survey and see what is the easiest caliber to obtain ammo for. that would be what id stik with. 30-06 might be a good choice if its popular up there.
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Offline Siskiyou

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2009, 06:25:57 AM »
My father-in-law and family lived in Alaska before it became a state.  He had three firearms, a single shot .22 rifle, a M37 pump shotgun, and a bolt action 30-06. 
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Online Graybeard

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2009, 12:51:40 PM »
This really needs input from folks in Alaska but from what I recall reading from their previous posts the big three always available up there are .30-06, .338 Win. Mag. and .375 H&H Mag. No matter where you go hunting you'll likely find .30-06, .375 H&H and 12 gauge ammo for sale.
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Offline Dand

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2009, 09:17:52 PM »
I'm a life long Alaskan and have lived in a number of communities, from Anchorage and Fairbanks to mostly SW Alaska out to Dutch Harbor.  Unless you plan to live on one of the far out Aleutian Islands, I have a hard time figuring out where you'll be that you won't see anybody for 6 mon.  Doesn't sound very realistic unless you are trying very very hard to avoid people.  Guess I'm too much of a gun nut to be willing accept only 1 gun. And it would depend on what part of the state you plan to be in and what you plan to be doing.  The 3 gun arsenal posted earlier would be my choice. Only a 12 ga might work but darn the shells are heavy and bulky.
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Offline 45north

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2009, 03:58:06 PM »
We really need more information. If that 6 months were October-March in the interior a good bolt or lever rifle in 22 lr. is all that you need, plus ammo is cheap and light weight. If on the other hand you were (anywhere on the coast) from Tin City to Craig and it's summer that same 22lr. is not much of a comfort for bear protection. And that goes for the rest of the state for that matter.
 My choice would be a good bolt action 30/06, 338, 375 and the same in a 22 lr. no shotgun, any birds,tree rats,fox,rabbits ect can be taken with the 22 lr. use the center fire for everything else.
just an opinion
45north
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Offline corbanzo

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2009, 07:39:50 PM »
That depends totally on the use. 

The 12 gauge isn't going to do you much good if you are hunting caribou.

The .22 isn't going to do you much good if you are planning on hunting big game.

The -06 isn't going to do you much good on small game.

If i didn't have any plans for hunting, but just wanted one gun to have "just in case" it would probably be a 12 gauge.


For everything, if you were very limited on what to bring, I would say a .338 mag, and a .22 pistol. 
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Offline Daveinthebush

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #9 on: February 24, 2009, 04:04:18 AM »
Savage overunder in 12 gauge and 30/30.  One gun, covers almost everything up here.  With Dixie slugs it is adeguate for brown bears.  #6 shot for ptargiman and rabbits.  30/30 is adequate on other game if you are a good hunter.

But if you want just one caliber and don't reload, .223!

One gun though, 12 gauge.  A slug will easily harvest any animal up here (except the costal bears) out to 125 yards or so.
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #10 on: February 25, 2009, 09:51:04 AM »
After 40 years in Alaska, one gun and one gun only.  That's easy, 30-06!!!!

You don't waste shells on birds, rabbits, or other small game.  That's what traps, snares, and deadfalls are for.  30-06 is good for Moose, Caribou, and Sheep, for food.  It's also good for protection against Grizzlies, Brownies, Black Bears, and Wolves.

Now what do I personally carry during the summer.  It's a toss-up between a 30-06 Handi, and a .338WM TCR, both are single shots.  Depends on my mood when I leave the house.
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Offline shootercochran

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2009, 07:42:49 AM »
You could go along ways with that one.  For me it would be a 54 caliber muzzleloader, or .22 rifle.  That would be my decision and somepeople wouldn't like it, but I feel you could do some things with the muzzleloader you couldn't do with other rifles.
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Offline BBF

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #12 on: March 13, 2009, 03:40:51 PM »
  A 35 Whelen Pump Action with a shortened barrel
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Offline shootercochran

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #13 on: March 16, 2009, 08:48:03 AM »
I'm moving to alaska in a couple of years. I'm taking a bolt action .30-06 and a bolt action .22.

I don't see how you can really do only one rifle.  You can get both for under 500 dollars.
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Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2009, 12:46:44 PM »
how about a 30-06 with a 30 carbine adapter for small stuff if you really need a small round ? The guy who makes the adapters lives up there .
Where i hunt in Canada they hunt bear with a slug gun . I was checking on a hunt and they recommend one . Some said it was not good for costal bears ?
I haven't hunted anything but black bear so just asking ?
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Offline corbanzo

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #15 on: March 16, 2009, 01:32:59 PM »
30 carbine isn't going to do you much good.  Well, maybe a good fox gun, but that is about it.  Anything you are going to eat it will be too big for. 
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Offline woodchukhntr

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2009, 01:36:38 PM »
A .30-06.  I can reload everything from .22 equivalent with round balls to 220 gr. maximum loads for big stuff.
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Offline S.B.

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #17 on: March 16, 2009, 02:06:20 PM »
Quote from: corbanzo on March 16, 2009, 01:32:59 PM
30 carbine isn't going to do you much good.  Well, maybe a good fox gun, but that is about it.  Anything you are going to eat it will be too big for. 
Oh, I don't know? I read in Castner's Cutthroats that it was the prefered weapon of Alaskan Scouts? But, these guys were all hunters and trappers(outdoorsmen).
Steve
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Offline deltecs

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #18 on: March 16, 2009, 02:21:32 PM »
I'd have to go along with Sourdough, 30-06.  However, when one lives in the bush and doesn't see people for 6 months at a time and my wife and I do just that, it is unrealistic to have only one rifle for hunting.  A good .22 rimfire rifle and/or short gun, a 12 gauge for ducks, geese, and other small game, a 30-06, and a CCW handgun are probably the minimum for the outdoorsman who eats game and needs personal protection.
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Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #19 on: March 17, 2009, 02:07:40 AM »
i see the carbine as a subsitute for a 22 mag that can be shot in a 30-06 . a couple 100 take up little space and could offer 100 small game meals .
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Offline woodchukhntr

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #20 on: March 17, 2009, 05:48:52 AM »
Quote from: SHOOTALL on March 17, 2009, 02:07:40 AM
i see the carbine as a subsitute for a 22 mag that can be shot in a 30-06 . a couple 100 take up little space and could offer 100 small game meals .

What, you don't line 2 or 3 up so you can shoot them all with one shot? :)
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Offline corbanzo

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #21 on: March 17, 2009, 08:52:33 AM »
Quote from: SHOOTALL on March 17, 2009, 02:07:40 AM
i see the carbine as a subsitute for a 22 mag that can be shot in a 30-06 . a couple 100 take up little space and could offer 100 small game meals .

You ever shoot a spruce chicken in the breast with a .22 mag?  Not pretty.  A .30 is gonna do you even worse.  Maybe if you are hunting rabbits, but in most of Alaska, your small game eating is gonna be sprucers and ptarmigan, both of which don't like anything bigger than a .22 - head shots excepted.  Even so...  how does a 40 grain bullet at 2000fps compare to a 100 grain bullet at 1900fps?  Way more out of the carbine.  I guess if you wanted to make the definition of "small game" to include lynx, beaver, and wolf, I would see why you might want a .30 carbine.  - But I still say it is too big for most small game, and too small for most big game.  A good trapper round... maybe.
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Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2009, 10:11:36 AM »
The small critters i have shot with a 30 car. ball ammo - just a hole not much more really . Didn't think Va. critters were that much tuffer than others
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Offline shootercochran

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #23 on: March 19, 2009, 10:30:17 AM »
Instead of .30 carbine, Get the .30-06 to .32 ACP adaptor.  .32 acp is simular to .22 lr. 


I for one don't like the idea of an adaptor, because if you lose the adaptor, (easy to do, it looks alot like a cartridge) your stuck!  A .22 LR rifle is cheaper to feed and it's not as easy to lose!
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Offline Dand

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #24 on: March 19, 2009, 10:54:53 AM »
I'm with Corbanzo and others who don't like the 30 carbine option. Its not that the animals are tough but destruction of meat - tho I have shot rabbits and grouse with 38 wad cutters. Also expense and weight of ammo would be a big consideration.  Shootercochran's  22 lr and 30-06 is a very good choice.  I know some people who may have taken a moose or 2  with a 30 carbine while homesteading in the 1950's but from the stories I heard it did not sound like a good way to go.

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Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #25 on: March 19, 2009, 11:19:38 AM »
22LR ammo is less water proof than any centerfire ammo .
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Offline Swampman

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #26 on: March 19, 2009, 12:16:02 PM »
Like Calvin Rutstrum, it would be a .30-30 carbine.  Mine is a ....

Marlin 336 in .30-30. with a scope.

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Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #27 on: March 19, 2009, 12:42:51 PM »
DID THEY CLOSE REMINGTON ?
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Offline hunt-m-up

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #28 on: March 19, 2009, 12:48:24 PM »
Quote from: SHOOTALL on March 19, 2009, 12:42:51 PM
DID THEY CLOSE REMINGTON ?
No they just re-directed all production to Marlin, determined it's the better of the two lines... :o
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Offline SHOOTALL

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Re: If you could only own one rifle/caliber
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2009, 12:50:57 PM »
GEE that makes perfect sense
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